'''Teen Advisory Group''' Allows teens to be involved with and have a voice in their library. Encourages communication between teens and librarians, and allows teens to provide input as to what they'd like to see in the way of programming, events, or collection additions in the library that they frequently use.

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'''Teen Advisory Group Tips''' Go to the teens with a passive program to introduce the public library in a non-threatening manner. I go to the high school once or twice a month and set up a table outside the cafeteria during the lunch hour. On the table I have information about programs, discarded books that the teens can take for their mandatory 20-minutes of reading in class, and sometimes a guessing game with a ballot box, and often some hard candies. It was scary to do at first, but the teens responded really well, and now they come to the table to ask what is going on. From there, we were able to form a relationship with the teens -- and held the Public Library Teen Advisory meetings during lunch, at the school until things were more established. We are a small town, with one high school so it works.

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=Success Stories=

=Success Stories=

===[[Boys' and Girls' Summer Book Groups: A Success Story and What We Learned]]===

===[[Boys' and Girls' Summer Book Groups: A Success Story and What We Learned]]===

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=== Community Mural ===

=== Community Mural ===

We developed a beautiful mural with teens for a community project. We surveyed the public for suggestions, hired a muralist to create and guide the process, found teens through one of the charter schools, requested funds through our friends program and developed and created the mural over a period of about three or four months. We walked the teens through the project, starting with art books and ideas and then mural instruction. The teens got to be a part of a community project for the library, and the library and community got a new mural.

We developed a beautiful mural with teens for a community project. We surveyed the public for suggestions, hired a muralist to create and guide the process, found teens through one of the charter schools, requested funds through our friends program and developed and created the mural over a period of about three or four months. We walked the teens through the project, starting with art books and ideas and then mural instruction. The teens got to be a part of a community project for the library, and the library and community got a new mural.

[http://smorestuff.blogspot.com/ S'More Stuff Swathmore Public Library Programs] a blog that is valuable for the scope of programming at a small library with a smaller budget. A wonderful template to follow for programming for children with links to sign-up forms and calendars.

Great Ideas for Programming for Kids & Teens

Teen Advisory Group Allows teens to be involved with and have a voice in their library. Encourages communication between teens and librarians, and allows teens to provide input as to what they'd like to see in the way of programming, events, or collection additions in the library that they frequently use.

Teen Advisory Group Tips Go to the teens with a passive program to introduce the public library in a non-threatening manner. I go to the high school once or twice a month and set up a table outside the cafeteria during the lunch hour. On the table I have information about programs, discarded books that the teens can take for their mandatory 20-minutes of reading in class, and sometimes a guessing game with a ballot box, and often some hard candies. It was scary to do at first, but the teens responded really well, and now they come to the table to ask what is going on. From there, we were able to form a relationship with the teens -- and held the Public Library Teen Advisory meetings during lunch, at the school until things were more established. We are a small town, with one high school so it works.

Success Stories

At my rural branch library (Greene County Branch of Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in Virginia) we've had a boy's summer book group for two summers and a corresponding girl's group for one summer. These were half book groups and half activity clubs...

Youth Services Success with Boys' Program

I am absolutely new to this (wikis, THIS wiki), but would like to start out by saying I'm a NON-LIBRARIAN ("clerk" and "library assistant" are job titles I've held), working 20+ years in public libraries, mainly in Youth Services. I've been a long-time library user (long before working in one) and am a parent of grown children (thus, the time to participate in this wiki, and take classes toward an LTA certificate).

Over the years, getting kids (especially grade school age boys) to read for pleasure (and to come to the library for programming) has been a challenge. This year, my library was awarded a grant for the purpose of bringing boys back to books.

The programming involved hands-on use of "building" materials, such as Lincoln Logs, erector sets, and a program (hired-out) involving designing your own video game. WOW! Was it ever successful (and yes, girls were included). We purchased some books to go with the programs (such as the "Wright Three" series as well as books about Frank Lloyd Wright, when we hosted an architect & people from the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust to talk and demonstrate building techniques using Froebel blocks, etc.). Parents (and kids) are still talking about our programs and hoping for more.

Community Mural

We developed a beautiful mural with teens for a community project. We surveyed the public for suggestions, hired a muralist to create and guide the process, found teens through one of the charter schools, requested funds through our friends program and developed and created the mural over a period of about three or four months. We walked the teens through the project, starting with art books and ideas and then mural instruction. The teens got to be a part of a community project for the library, and the library and community got a new mural.

Blogs/Websites to Watch

S'More Stuff Swathmore Public Library Programs a blog that is valuable for the scope of programming at a small library with a smaller budget. A wonderful template to follow for programming for children with links to sign-up forms and calendars.